Andrespetmonkey said:
GameOver22 said:
Andrespetmonkey said:
Jumpin said:
The poll has agnostic and atheism listed as the same thing. This is not true at all.
An Atheist is one who asserts that no God exists,
An Agnostic is one who doesn't assert that a God or Gods exist, and doesn't assert that they don't exist either.
These are two very differing viewpoints.
Also, there is a gigantic variety among Christian beliefs. Without getting into too much detail, while Liberal Christians and Conservative Christian denominations use the same scriptures, their beliefs are very different.
The Liberal camp takes the bible and take the beliefs as metaphorical. Some believe that there was never a human Jesus, and that he was wholey a spiritual being written about by the early mystics who experienced Jesus and the word of God (the logos). They also believe that much of the imagery (born of a virgin), including his titles (saviour, the son of God, Lord etc...) were part of the political rebellion of the time since these were all myths and titles associated with the Roman Emperors* Julius Caesar and Octavian Augustus.
The Conservative camp believes the bible is historical fact, and that not only was Jesus historical, but that he was born of a virgin, rose from the dead, and performed miracles.
These are two different religions that happen to use the same scripture. I would guess Liberal Christian thought is more prevelant in Europe, and Conservative Christian thought more so in the US.
* Many contemporary historians like to incorrectly place Augustus as the first Roman Emperor, but the historians of the Roman Empire (such as Plutarch and Suetonius) always placed Julius Caesar at the first of that Imperial line, and also consider Sulla to have been an Emperor. To the Romans, the title "Imperator" was "Emperor", but to many contemporary historians they require both "Imperator" and "Princeps" - although title Princeps is really not important, and it is often heavily overstated by certain camps of contemporary historians. It was more or less just a title of dignity. Many Emperors did not even include the title "Princeps" in their list of titles; including most Emperors after the reign of Diocletian, including Constantine.
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Firstly, an Atheist is not someone who asserts that no god exists, an Atheist is "A person who lacks belief in a god or gods"
An atheist may lack a belief in a god or gods, but that doesn't mean they are someone who asserts that no gods exist.
Secondly, They aren't listed as the same thing, they are listed together. I know the difference.
You do realise this is just a quick simple poll? I know the variety among different religions, expecially islam and christianity, but like I said, this poll is just quick and simple. I listed agnostics and atheists together as they are both not theists, and have largely the same point of view in general. (key words = largely and in general)
Sorry you went into so much detail lol, I already know.
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Jumpin is actually correct. An atheist does claim that God does not exist. The statement "a person who lacks belief in a god or gods" is more resonant with an agnostic. Granted, an atheist would also accept this statement as true, but they go a step further and argue that God does not exist. At the very least, an atheist has to belief that God does not exist. On the other hand, an agnostic does not believe in the existence or non-existence of God.
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Agnostics don't have a belief either way.
Atheists, like myself, can say I do not know if there is a god, but I lack a belief in a god(s). It's not contradictory.
Being atheist does not mean I think, for sure, god doesn't exist. It means I lack a belief in any.
Atheist: person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supremebeing or beings.
I only disbelieve, I don't deny the existance of a supremebeing, I think it' a possibility, I just have no reason to believe it, therefore I disbelieve.
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If that is what you think, you are an agnostic. To put another way, these are the statements each side will make:
1. Theist- I believe God exists.
2. Atheist- I believe God does not exists.
3. Agnostic- I do not believe God exists, and I do not believe God does not exists.
When it comes to these types of distinctions, pulling definitions off of dictionary.com is not the best method because they tend to be very vague in their meanings. If you want to understand what the terms mean, I would suggest picking up a book on the philosophy of religion (The God Dialogues is a good intro at a decent price). Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy also has some good articles on the subject (Atheism and Agnostocism).
Really, what people know has no relevance to the distinction between the three categoroes. What matters is what people believe. Someone can be an atheist without knowing God does not exist. They just have to believe God does not exist. Knowledge is generally considered to be true, justified beliefs. In the case I just mentioned, someone might belief that God does not exist and might feel justified in this belief because of some argument, but there could still be a question of whether this belief corresponds with reality (whether its true). In this case, there could be belief without knowledge.
